What Is a Business Intelligence Manager? And How to Become One

Key takeaways

• A business intelligence manager is a professional who leads teams in collecting and analyzing data to generate actionable insights that inform an organization’s strategic decisions.

• A business intelligence manager’s salary is $171,000 annually, which represents the median total pay in the US according to Glassdoor [1].

• To work in business intelligence manager jobs, you’ll need to earn at least a bachelor’s degree, gain work experience through entry-level roles, hone your BI skills, and earn a certification.

A business intelligence manager's job description includes overseeing BI teams, managing databases and dashboards, gathering and analyzing business data, identifying risks, presenting insights to leadership, and training new team members. In this article, learn more about what a BI manager is, what they do, how much they earn, and how to become one.

Afterward, if you're interested in advancing your skills in business intelligence, consider enrolling in the Google Business Intelligence Professional Certificate. In as little as two months, you'll have the opportunity to build on your data analytics, data modeling, and extract, transform, and load (ETL) skills to create dashboards that effectively communicate data insights to stakeholders. Upon completion, you’ll earn a shareable certificate for your resume.

What is a business intelligence manager?

A business intelligence (BI) manager is a professional who uses data to inform business decisions. In this role, you typically lead a team of business analysts, data analysts, and programmers to collect and analyze information to produce critical business insights. In general, the role of a business intelligence manager involves transforming raw data into actionable insights that improve an organization’s strategic decision-making. Being effective in this role requires a deep understanding of business intelligence and data analysis, along with well-honed skills in management and communication.

Depending on where you work, you and your team may influence everything from marketing campaign strategy to resource management and an organization’s financial investments. Some common industries in which you might find employment as a business intelligence professional include government agencies, financial investment, and management consulting.

What is the role of business intelligence?

BI helps companies make effective decisions informed by data from multiple sources. It ultimately allows businesses to improve their operations by identifying bottlenecks, increase customer satisfaction by tailoring products to customer needs, and gain higher returns on investment through marketing strategies based on in-depth market insights. Using BI strategies, you can analyze your business data to gain actionable insights into trends, identify business opportunities, and enhance decision-making with real-time data.

Business intelligence manager job description

As a business intelligence manager, your job description will likely combine analytical and leadership skills to not only make sense of large data sets but also manage cross-functional teams and explain to stakeholders how your findings help meet corporate goals. However, your exact responsibilities will vary from one organization to another. Some common tasks you’ll likely perform as a business intelligence manager include the following:

• Overseeing a business intelligence team, including analysts and programmers

• Managing the design and development of databases, data warehouses, and dashboards

• Sourcing and gathering relevant data to achieve business objectives

• Assessing real-time data to identify problem areas, causes, or risks and presenting meaningful solutions

• Analyzing business, customer, and competitor data; generating reports; and creating data visualizations using business intelligence tools like Power BI or Tableau

• Presenting research findings and insights to upper management and leadership

• Hiring and training new team members

Watch this video to learn more about BI concepts.

Business intelligence manager salary and job outlook

Business intelligence managers earn a higher-than-average salary, and the field has a positive job outlook in the coming years. According to Glassdoor, the median total salary for business intelligence managers in the United States is $171,000 [1]. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

You can expect strong demand for BI professionals in the coming years. According to projections from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of job openings for management analysts, the job category for business intelligence managers, will grow by 10 percent between 2025 and 2035, which is much faster than average [2].

How to become a business intelligence manager

You need the right combination of education, work experience, and skills to succeed in a career as a business intelligence manager. Explore the typical career journey for this role below.

1. Earn a degree.

Most employers require that applicants for business intelligence manager roles possess at least a bachelor’s degree, with the most common majors including business, computer science, accounting, and marketing. You should look for majors that build your foundation in data analytics, business processes, and data management. While you may be able to start out without a degree, you’ll likely need one to advance in your career. An MBA with a specialization in data analytics or a master’s degree in business analytics may also help you qualify for higher-level roles.

Higher education is common among business intelligence managers. According to Zippia, 71 percent of business intelligence managers hold a bachelor’s degree, while 23 percent hold a master’s degree. By comparison, 3 percent have an associate degree [3].

Read more: Exploring a Business Intelligence Degree: Is It the Right Career Path for You?

2. Gain work experience for business intelligence manager jobs.

The role of a business intelligence manager isn’t an entry-level position, so expect to spend some time working in related entry-level positions first. You might also seek out internships that help you apply data analysis skills to real-world business scenarios while working toward your degree. Generally, employers ask that applicants have two to five years of experience in a related role, such as a business intelligence analyst or developer. In some cases, employers may also prefer applicants with prior managerial or supervisory experience.

Some entry-level business intelligence roles you could consider include:

• Business intelligence analyst

• Junior BI analyst

• Data analyst

• Business analyst

• Business intelligence system analyst

3. Hone your skills.

Business intelligence managers need to possess a strong set of both technical and interpersonal skills. Taking on projects that use data to drive business value, leveraging strategic thinking, and working across cross-functional teams while seeking out opportunities that showcase your leadership acumen and hone your understanding of industry-specific challenges can help you build a portfolio of demonstrable BI skills for employers. Some of the skills you’ll likely need to possess to land a job in the field include the following:

• Knowledge of BI tools, such as Tableau and Microsoft Power BI

• Comfortable conducting data analysis

• Ability to build dashboards and generate reports

• Strong grasp of industry trends

• Problem-solving skills

• Collaboration

• Leadership skills

• Analytical skills

• Management and supervisory experience

Explore relevant Microsoft Power BI skills with the Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Professional Certificate. Over eight courses, you'll have the opportunity to learn how to use Power BI to connect to data sources and transform them into meaningful insights.

4. Consider BI manager certificates or certifications.

A certificate or certification may help you stand out from other job applicants, showing the effort you've put in to learn more about this area and develop key skills in it. A certification shows industry-standard knowledge you've gained, often by passing an exam, while a certificate tends to be a series of courses through which you develop key knowledge and skills.

Consider obtaining a certification, such as the Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) from Transforming Data with Intelligence (TDWI), for which you’ll need to pass a 90-minute, 110-question exam with a score of 50 percent or higher to receive certification.

You can also explore a number of Professional Certificates to gain foundational knowledge about business intelligence and advance your skill set. Consider advancing with a certificate from Google, such as the Business Intelligence Professional Certificate.

Build in-demand skills with these practical resources

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• Learn a BI tool: Power BI Learning Roadmap: From Beginner to Expert

• Watch on YouTube: BI vs. Data Analytics: What’s the Difference?

• Hear from an expert: 7 Questions with a Data Analytics Professor

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